Ralph Elmer Fife died on December 7, 1941 in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, while serving in the Navy on the USS Arizona. He died directly as a result of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Ralph was born January 23, 1920 in Harvey County, Kansas, son of Raymond & Elsie Belle (Cain) Fife.
“Ralph Elmer Fife and his family were originally from the area of Newton, Harvey County, Kansas. He was the son of Raymond R Fife and Elsie Bell Cain. His mother had died in 1925 when Ralph was just five years old. He went to live with relatives in Pine River Valley, Plata County, Colorado and graduated from Bayfield High School in 1940. On July 26, 1940 he enlisted in the US Navy while in California.”
Two More Listed As “Lost In Action” Newton – Ralph Fife, son of R.R. Fire, formerly of Newton, and grandson of Mrs. Grace Fife, of Newton, has been given up, officially, as lost in action at Pearl Harbor.
A message from the War department has been received announcing that he has not been located and that he is officially pronounced as “having lost his life in the service of his country.” He was a Seaman First Class on the battleship Arizona, which was sunk at Pearl Harbor. His father now lives at Corona, California. The Hutchinson News-Herald, Hutchinson, Kansas. Sunday, February 1, 1942. Page 5. (c) Harvey County Geneaalogical Society.
